EP 044: Lessons from a decade of swing trading, and how to overcome early failure w/ Michele Koenig

Let me introduce you to my guest for episode 44 – Michele Koenig of Trade on the Fly, from Montana (very top of the United States).

Michele is primarily a swing trader of technical chart patterns, but also takes an occasional intraday position when she spots an opportunity.

During our discussion we spoke about a whole range of really interesting topics. To start with we covered Michele’s first few years when starting out, where she had some early success, then shortly after, lost almost everything – we spoke about how this happened, how she was affected, and how she bounced back.

Plus some of the other highlights would include; insight to Michele’s scanning process and how she tracks a watchlist, a reminder not to ‘trip over dollars while trying to save dimes’, and some words of wisdom to traders who are yet to breakthrough.

Lessons learnt in this interview:

Michele shares the story that inspired her to begin trading stocks, and how the current landscape of trading information compares to when she was just starting out.

How being over-confident, over-trading, and lacking discipline caused Michele to lose substantial amounts of money early on in her trading career. And what changes she made to reduce the chances of this happening again.

An overview of Michele’s trading style, and how she identifies opportunities by analyzing multiple timeframes. Plus, how she’s adapted to recent market conditions.

The advantages of a swing trading approach, how to reduce overnight risk (if this is a concern to you), and how Michele treats swing positions around earnings season.

Michele shares the indicators used across her charts, and to what degree they influence her decisions to buy and sell.

How Michele decides which trades she will be out of before the close, and which trades she will hold for a longer swing position.

Insight to Michele’s scanning process, how she creates watchlists by visually scanning 300-600 charts each day, and how she tracks setups that take time to form.

A reminder not to ‘trip over dollars while trying to save dimes’ – Michele speaks about why her focus is to capture the ‘meat of the move’ and it’s unrealistic to enter at the dead bottom, exit at the peak.

Why you should care less about trades that others are taking, and only trade what fits within your plan. You need to have ownership and responsibility for your own trading, in order to have longevity.

Plus, much more…

Links and resources mentioned:

Enter Giveaway – Enter this giveaway for your chance to WIN a free 90 minute, one-on-one coaching session with a genuine, pro trader. There will be 3 winners, best of luck to you!

StockCharts.com – Michele uses StockCharts to visually scan, store and manage charts on her watchlist (and has done so for 13+ years).

ThinkOrSwim.com – Once a potential trade opportunity is near, Michele sets alerts and executes through the TOS platform.

Traders4ACause.org – A charity dedicated to giving back and supporting various causes, Michele’s role on the board is Treasurer and Director.

MomoTraders.com – A new book written by Brady Dahl, featuring interviews with ten traders who started from the ground up – Michele is one of the traders interviewed.

TradeOnTheFly.com – Here you learn more about Michele, and how she helps other traders through her community, which includes; extensive videos, webinars, trade ideas, private Twitter feed, chat room and more.